what the hell is it about this ‘religion’ that attracts so manyt followers?
I cannot for the life of me see anyone converting TO Islam for any reason
It would seem more like something you should try to escape from your whole life
Escape...We read it every day....Christian wannabe executed....
I have a circa 1850 book.....There is a vivid picture of a "warrior" on a horse with the caption: "A Sword in one hand and the Koran in the other". The Religion: Total state control: Total extinction of non mulims.
You don't live in a mud hut with no utilities and no hope of ever bettering yourself. They sell Religion as a way to paradise by blowing up people and getting a first class ticket to heaven and dozens of virgins to attend your every need.
It may sound far fetched to us but to people who are likely to die young of sickness and malnutrition its not that hard of a sell.
That is why I applauded Bush's decision to invade Iraq and Nation Build. If you change their economy and infrastructure to where people aren't living on the edge of starvation and can better themselves that nonsense extremist crap can't take hold. But it will take years of work to change. The Nutjob fanatics know it and will try and destroy all efforts to stop Iraq becoming a capitalist Economy with Free Elections.
These people have nothing , Islam comes along and at least gives them something to believe in, then it gives them things to get riled up about. Next thing you know they are on a plane with a Condom of PETN up their bunghole.
It’s not hard to see that Radical Islam, as a psychopathological “religion” that is also a political movement looking for dictatorial “Ultimate Power”, attracts exactly the same kind of psychologically impotent “dead-enders” that both Stalinist Communism, Italian Fascism, and Naziism did starting around the first third of the 20th century. It naturally attracts thuggish types whose only talent is the ability to keep their consciences clear and clean as they go ahead with official sanction and intimidate, brutalize and kill anyone and everyone in their way. Think of groups as diverse as Nation of Islam, Adam Gadahn, some black guy in prison
who “converts” to Islam, and this current Nigerian rich boy who tried to carry out a plane bombing yesterday.......one of the world’s oldest religions , through one of its ‘branches’, has offered them an identity, a posture, a stance, and some validation for expressing their alienation from the ongoing processes of the modern world-—they get to wear these nifty robes, and headgear, grow voluminous beards, make Youtube videos in which they predict the end of Western Civilization, talk about the “holy” and “sacred” all the time, march purposefully down the “Arab street” with flocks of slavish followers behind them, and over and above everything else,
let it be known that somehow they will vanquish us, because they value death and martyrdom more than they value life.
Life SCARES them, if it’s not SHaria Law as far as the eye can see.
Lots of differences, but lots of similarities too: Communism always thought of itself as being in the “scientific” vanguard because they felt Marxism was “scientific”, Islam, on the other had, promotes itself as having already achieved its Civilization many hundreds of years ago, and wants to force the rest of the world to acknowledge and submit to that civilization, with its Imams and Holy Men as the earthly advance men for it.
Have you noticed the complete lack of “Muslim” associated with this clown.
And, what happened to the idiot that killed all our people down in Fort Hood?
Even Fox News now has a block on the word Muslim, apparently because the owner has a new association with a Saudi T.V. prince.
Watch your own behind is the best advice
There’s an excellent book called “The True Believer” by Eric Hoffer. It’s a quick read, but a very educational one. It explains very well why people can be drawn to radical movements.